Hey there, I have a few questions about some rulings on the Masquerade awards/rankings.
So I know that I am ranked as "Master" level and I understand that if I bring in any friends to compete with me, they too would be judged at a Master's level. So my questions are:

1. If I made all the outfits in my group, and say we win a major award.. if the friend then wanted to compete on their own (having not won anything prior), what ranking would they be at? (they didn't make any part of the costumes, so do they technically still "win" the award?) Asking for both Performance and Craftsmanship.

2. If a friend helped in the construction of the outfits, and we won a major award.. and the friend then wanted to compete on their own (having not won anything prior), what ranking would they be at? Again, asking for both Performance and Craftsmanship.

I want to say that if they helped in any constructions, for Craftsmanship, and winning 1 major award, they would be Intermediate? Or would they get stuck into Masters because that's my ranking?
For Performances, I am unsure, because with performances, technically everyone is involved in doing something on stage. So with only winning 1 major award, would the friend become Intermediate or stuck in Masters?

1. If you made the costumes and your group won a craftsmanship award, your friends would not need to move up in the rankings for craftsmanship.

2. This is more of a grey area. For the most part, these rules aren't written in stone - if your friend honestly felt like they still belonged in novice or journeyman, as long as they emailed us and let us know about the situation, I'd be alright with allowing them to remain there until they win on their own.

As for the Performance/Craftsmanship distinction... I would say that if your group wins a Performance award, they are locked into that level for future performances but not necessarily for future craftsmanship or performance/craftsmanship.

For instance, when I was still competing, I won a ton of performance awards but only one minor craftsmanship one. So when I went to other conventions, I explained this to the masq staff and asked if I could compete in craftsmanship-only competitions as a novice.

When in doubt, email us (masquerade@animeboston.com) with the specific instances in question and ask if you can compete where you think you belong. 99% of the time we will agree with you if you can make a good case, and then we will back that decision if it is ever called into question by anyone else.